George W. Bush

George W. Bush ran as a "compassionate conservative" in 2000, pledging to be a uniter, not a divider. Instead, W has become one of the most polarizing presidents in our nation's history. He became president without winning the popular vote, yet he governed as if he had won in a landslide. Regardless of how one felt about his policies, Bush and his advisors were remarkably effective in getting what they want, from huge tax cuts to the war in Iraq. This effectiveness has solidified his support on the right, while infuriating the left.

While Bush has been effective in getting his agenda passed, many of us believe that his competence needs to be called into question regarding how decisions are made, and whether he's willing to address problems that arise. From WMD to the situation on the ground in Iraq, the number of blunders are starting to pile up. (updated 5/9/04 by Gerardo Orlando)

An email to Andrew Sullivan's blog brilliantly explains the use of "thin pretexts" by politicians. Read it and see if you agree that this nicely sums up the Bush and Rove approach to politics and governance.�

Jacob Weisberg has been compiling hilarious "Bushisms" for years in Slate demonstrating Bush's difficulties with the English language. In "The Misunderestimated Man - How Bush Chose Stupidity", Weisberg introduces his new compilations of Bushisms and provides a sharp indictment of Bush's approach to his job.

Andrew Sullivan explains how President Bush "has done a huge amount to destroy the coherence of a conservative philosophy of American government." Sullivan argues that conservatives need to consider Kerry.

BUSH 41: Thomas Friedman has an interesting piece in the Times explaining how we could use a president like George H. W. Bush in office during these troubled times. He also explains how John Kerry, not George W. Bush, is the true heir to Bush 41's legacy.�

David Frum of The National Review tackles the question of whether George W. Bush is a conservative.
The Nanny in Chief - Andrew Sullivan argues in Time that Bush thinks he knows what's good for you, and he'll spend money to prove it. Sullivan demonstrates how Bush is entrenched in the "moralist" wing of the conservative movement.

Michael Segal argues that Bush is smarter than the intellectuals who disdain him.

"Mr. Bush's central problem is not that he was lying about Iraq, but that he was overzealous and self-deluded. He surrounded himself with like-minded ideologues, and they all told one another that Saddam was a mortal threat to us. They deceived themselves along with the public � a more common problem in government than flat-out lying." - Nicholas Kristof

"From foreign to economic to social policy, Bush's record is a lesson in the limits and perils of conviction. He's too confident to consult a map. He's too strong to heed warnings and too steady to turn the wheel when the road bends. He's too certain to admit error, even after plowing through ditches and telephone poles. He's too preoccupied with principle to understand that principle isn't enough. Watching the stars instead of the road, he has wrecked the budget and the war on terror. Now he's heading for the Constitution. It's time to pull him over and take away the keys." - William Saletan(3/4/04)

"It should be clear to all by now that what we have in the Bush team is a faith-based administration. It launched a faith-based war in Iraq, on the basis of faith-based intelligence, with a faith-based plan for Iraqi reconstruction, supported by faith-based tax cuts to generate faith-based revenues. This group believes that what matters in politics and economics are conviction and will � not facts, social science or history." - Thomas L. Friedman

"Unlike Bush, Reagan was a man of ideas, an intellectual, a man who had thought long and hard about the world and developed keen ideas about what was needed to fix its problems. So he was able to argue, to make a case, to concede a point, to embrace a synthesis. President Bush, alas, can only make a case - in words given him by others. I have never witnessed him in public acknowledge an opposing argument or think on his feet. Those aren't his strengths. But they sure were Reagan's." - Andrew Sullivan

"[President Bush] wants to build like a space station on the moon, and then from the moon, he wants to launch people to Mars. You know what this means, ladies and gentlemen? He's been drinking again." - David Letterman

"The Republican Congress is spending at twice the rate as under Bill Clinton, and President Bush has yet to issue a single veto. I complained about profligate spending during the Clinton years but never thought I'd have to do so with a Republican in the White House and Republicans controlling the Congress." - Paul M. Weyrich, national chairman of Coalitions for America

BUSH QUOTES:

"Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised." - President Bush on the night he launched the Iraq war

Everyone, including liberals, moderates and conservatives, seems to have a problem with Bush's budgets. This isn't very surprising since we've gone from huge surpluses to huge deficits in three short years under Bush. Liberals hate the tax cuts and conservatives hate the spending increases. It's refreshing to see conservatives finally speaking up and admitting that the deficits matter. Naturally, the Bush administration is denying the problem and playing with the numbers.

The Bush administration's playbook is pretty clear - when insiders question Bush policies, the response is character assassination.� It's an easy and sometimes effective strategy. The media loves controversy, and the right wing media is even more willing to go along. Joe explains in Time how the Bush administration gets ugly and personal in response to insider critics, and details how Cheney in particular got things started with cynical and vicious attack on Richard Clarke when he appeared on the Rush Limbaugh program.�

We've seen this story before with the administration's attacks on Joe Wilson and Paul O'Neil. With Wilson, someone in the administration actually "outed" Wilson's wife and exposed her as a CIA agent.

The Boston Globe broke this story in 2000. Click here for the Globe's first article and follow-up coverage.

Bushisms

"The Senator has got to understand if he's going to have -- he can't have it both ways. He can't take the high horse and then claim the low road."�

"Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream."

Jacob Weisberg has been compiling hilarious "Bushisms" for years in Slate demonstrating Bush's difficulties with the English language. In "The Misunderestimated Man - How Bush Chose Stupidity", Weisberg introduces his new compilations of Bushisms and provides a sharp indictment of Bush's approach to his job.